Oil and gas contractor in Arabian Gulf to implement Epicor across entire organisation

Epicor Software Corporation, provider of enterprise business software solutions for the midmarket and divisions of Global 1000 companies, has announced that Lamprell, an oil and gas contractor in the Arabian Gulf that is listed on the London Stock Exchange, is to implement the Epicor 9 next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution across its entire organisation. Epicor will replace a number of bespoke and off-the-shelf applications that Lamprell currently use for its procurement, warehousing, manufacturing and financial operations.

"Because we use a mixture of applications it's currently difficult and time consuming to prepare accurate business reports, with data often being out-of-date by the time the report is finished," said Dan Wibberley, group commercial manager for Lamprell. "We need access to live and up-to-date business data from across the entire operations in order to make effective management decisions. Running a mixture of products doesn't support a growing international business and we knew we needed an ERP solution to improve data visibility and control."

Lamprell turned to an independent vendor evaluation firm to help them put together a detailed request for information document, and subsequently demonstration scripts, as a help for evaluating various solutions. "This meant that we had vendors demonstrating the exact same functionality so that we could compare like for like," said Wibberley. "After reviewing several solutions, including those from leading tier one vendors, we selected Epicor because it was clearly the best fit for our environment and our methods of operation."

Wibberley explained, "We found the Epicor team knowledgeable and professional throughout the entire evaluation process; they answered all our questions with ease. When they demonstrated how to operate the system it looked easy, as opposed to some of the other systems we saw that looked difficult to operate. As we don't have any previous experience with ERP, this was very important to us. Epicor contains all of our industry requirements plus a selection of 'nice to have' features, all within the same package."

Lamprell is planning to implement Epicor across its entire organisation, which comprises several companies and facilities in the United Arab Emirates and a facility in Thailand. To start with, the system will have just over 150 concurrent users, building up to more than 300. By implementing Epicor Lamprell expects to achieve better visibility across the entire organisation. "We already run an effective business but we feel that now is the time to fine tune operations and with Epicor's help we will be able to find all those smaller areas where we can improve efficiency to help create a truly streamlined organisation," concluded Wibberley.

"Lamprell joins a group of leading energy businesses that use Epicor to successfully manage their operations worldwide," said Basil Daniells, senior director for Epicor in MEA, Turkey and India. "These businesses need to be agile to enable them to quickly adapt to changes, control processes, and reduce costs, in order to meet demanding market challenges. With its powerful reporting and dashboard capabilities, integrated end-to-end functionality, and modern look and feel, Epicor should be on every energy company's short list."